When you picture the typical American college student, what comes to mind? Do you think of an 18-22 year-old who goes to college right after high school, lives on campus, sits in a study group in the sun on the quad, and has fun at college parties? Do their parents usually pay most of their way?

The reality in 2025 is far different for most college students in America. Today 70 percent of college students are so-called “nontraditional students” – either older than 22, financially independent from their parents, working full time, attending college part-time, and/or caring for their own children or family members. 

We know college pays off quickly – for individual students (traditional and non-traditional) – and for America’s economy at large. According to the National Center on Education Statistics, associate’s degree holders age 25-34 earned more than 18 percent higher than those with just a high school degree. For those who go on to complete a bachelor’s degree, the wage premium rises, with average annual earnings 59 percent higher than high school grads. The wage premium keeps rising throughout life, as workers with more education are able to advance higher in their careers.

Community colleges are a critical option for non-traditional students to get a degree or credential, and to prepare to transfer to a four-year institution if they wish. Today’s trends show community colleges are more popular than ever. In the most recent data, community colleges saw an enrollment increase of six percent in 2024: higher than four-year public and private nonprofit colleges.

However, community colleges often serve a high-need student body, and are often underfunded.

The U.S. Department of Education’s (ED’s) Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) helps community colleges close the gap for low-income and nontraditional students. SIP competitive grants have nothing to do with colleges’ enrollment of minority students. Instead, institutions are eligible if they have high the enrollment of low-income students – and also have relatively low resources compared to other colleges in each sector. The results are extremely strong, with SIP community colleges having significantly higher graduation rates than ED’s target metrics for each of the past five years. Read more on SIP at ACCT's recent blog.

La Crosse, Wisconsin: Western Technical College (Western)

Western’s SIP grant is focused on building technology and data support to improve student success. The grant helped Western hire a data analyst, programmer, constituent relationship management technician, and project manager – as well as software – to use and analyze data and focus on student success. The project has four main parts:

• Improving data use and planning: training staff to use advanced data and tech to plan across the college, including new technology and user-friendly visual dashboards.
• Partnering with experts at the college to reconfigure degree programs into shorter seven-week sessions. The project uses real-time data to evaluate the rollout and make adjustments as needed.
• Tracking high-quality student data to see what services students use, what works, and which efforts to scale up or improve.
• A new research center for staff and faculty to use data and work with experts to develop new supports for the students needing the most help.

Ottumwa, Iowa: Indian Hills Community College (IHCC)

IHCC enrolls about 4,000 students across nearly 5,000 square miles in a rural, ten-county area in the southeastern part of Iowa. IHCC enrolls approximately 4,000 students per year The college offers more than 70 programs, including information technology, health, advanced manufacturing, transportation, and liberal arts, with a goal of transfer to a four-year college if students wish. 

IHCC’s SIP grant works to improve students persisting from their first to second year. To accomplish this, the SIP grant:

• Provides more access to advising, financial literacy, and life skills.
• Provides career and work-based learning (WBL) coaching to career and technical education students to increase uptake of WBL
• Develops online courses for collaborative learning, including new collaborative learning spaces with tech enhancement
• Uses instructional coaches to train faculty on research-based techniques to help faculty better serve low-income students, and uses a new online system to track and increase the rate of faculty with helpful credentials

Northern California: Folsom Lake College (FLC)

Established in 2004, FLC serves more than 12,000 students in Folsom, Placerville, and Rancho Cordova. FLC’s SIP grant focuses on ensuring underprepared students can access high-quality supports for their learning while they are on the path to transfer to a four-year college.

FLC’s SIP grant develops an intensive tutoring support system for math and English, using embedded tutors and a new math center, and through an online app. To improve uptake of the new systems, FLC provides professional development to staff.

The SIP grant focuses on:

• Expanding programs for academic assistance
• Increasing the share of students completing English and math courses at a level high enough to be eligible for transfer to a four-year college
• Increasing completion rates of all students
• Keeping a high level of service and improving the culture of learning

Jonathan Elkin is an independent consultant with experience in the U.S. House and Senate, state and local government, and bipartisan federal advocacy from early childhood to K-12 and higher education. Get in touch on LinkedIn or at Uniting for Student Success, LLC.

Photocredit: www.westerntc.edu